WEEK 228--It's Beer It's Not Beer

I was asked quite a few times about what's the biggest lure of craft beer--what makes it so interesting for one to go the distance in becoming a beer geek? The answer to that is "CHOICES"--there are so many varieties of beer styles with very different taste profile--that's what makes craft beer so different from the stereotype BEER perception many consumers have/had.....

craft beer世界中，不同类型风格啤酒很多，当中有些作品不管是酒体颜色，浓郁程度到风味呈现对不少新朋友来说无论观感或口感上都会让人感觉不是啤酒，特别是如果以传统大厂啤酒“风味”来做对比的话更会显得落差巨大无比，是接触craft beer 之前无法想象的啤酒风味表现。

简单例子来说，近年流行的类果汁印度淡啤(neipa)还有果泥酸啤(fruited sour)浓郁一如果泥奶昔的酒体，还有不同水果带来的鲜艳酒色，再到完全颠覆一般人对啤酒风味认知的味觉口感领会都会造成“说是啤酒但却不像啤酒”的混淆/错乱式趣味体验。

Indeed for anyone who only been drinking or thought MACRO LAGER BEER is the WHOLE Truth of beer world then he/she will be in for big surprises when entering the world of craft beer with the types of different beer styles available--from beer body to color to taste profile will be so so different from those long standing stereotype/ perception public has had when it comes to beer. It would be interesting to watch the reactions of first-time drinkers when encountering say a Hazy IPA or Fruited Sour with their milk-shake like thick body and fruit puree like color & taste--giving newbies the somewhat confusing doubts of "is this beer?"..

实际上，craft beer世界中有些酿坊除了啤酒，有时也会“不务正业”干点其他的，意思是会做啤酒以外的其他酒类作品或是诸如果酱，枫糖，芝士之类的食品，比如比利时天然发酵小作坊Bokke之前的限量果酱，美国大师级别酿坊Hill Farmstead偶尔出现的桶陈枫糖，比利时修道院啤酒酿坊的芝士等等。此外，比利时小型酿坊Antidoot也会酿造自家自然葡萄酒和苹果酒，英国酿坊Mills以及Little Earth Project也有苹果酒和混合式作品等等不是一般认知中“只是啤酒”作品出现。

In fact at times it's not all about beer in the world of craft brewing--there were occasions where brewer/s would do things other than beer brewing--for examples Bokke did some fruited jam--Hill Farmstead did barrel-aged Maple Syrup--also the Trappist breweries making own cheese--Antidoot make their own natural wine/cider--UK breweries Mills & Little Earth Project do some cider/blended brew & so on....

And it's rather fascinating to know that a few Non-beer alcoholic beverages are somehow closely knitted with craft beer world, for examples:-

啤酒之外，craft beer界其实有不少或酿坊自行衍生的其他酒类作品，也有完全不关啤酒但与craft beer界关系密切友好的酒类，比如：-

Hard Seltzer

In short--this is sparkling water with alcohol--and depending on how the brewer intended it to be--adjuncts such as fruits or food items or spices will be added to make it even more flavourful or close to what the brewers wanting to recreate.

Hard Seltzer became popular in the craft beer world & among beer geeks during the dark days of Covid--when Homes brewery started a sub-brand "Smooj" in 2020 to make Pina Colada & Strawberry Banana hard seltzer as some kind of "side-project"--the response those 2 new creations received was quite overwhelming--the popularity spreaded & some other craft beer breweries did joined in to make their versions of hard seltzer.

酒精气泡水（hard seltzer ）

简单来说，这不是啤酒，而是像字面意思那样含酒精的气泡水，视乎酿造者意图，这是可以有非常多不同水果，食材或香料口味选择的气泡水。

酒精气泡水在90年代就有，不过在craft beer界带起风潮的话可说是由密芝根酿坊Homes Brewing掀起，以果味啤酒，类果汁印度淡啤（也有黑啤作品）著称的这家酿坊2020年时兴起了酿造酒精气泡水的念头并以Smooj为名设立副品牌，首批以鸡尾酒Pina Colada以及草莓香蕉为风味概念的新作品一推出就很快售罄，作品风味表现让不少啤迷激赏，口碑传开後第二批作品更是在一小时内被抢光，也让一些其他craft beer酿坊仿效加入酿造自家版本酒精气泡水行列。

Cider

As many would know--this is alcoholic apple juice though in fact many other fruits can be used to make a cider too. Indeed some breweries who have their own small farms with apples or other suitable fruits do make their own versions of cider or barrel-aged cider--there are also some breweries who collab-brew with cider houses who specialises in making cider.

苹果酒（Cider）

字面上非常直接明了，就是把苹果压碎/榨汁酿造而成的酒精饮料（实际上也有使用其他水果比如梨，桃，杏，蓝莓，李子，覆盆子等等）。craft beer酿坊中有一些特别是有自家农场或注重水果入酒的酿酒师会或酿造桶陈版本苹果酒或用苹果酒和啤酒勾兑出混合型作品。另一种情况是自己没有酿造苹果酒的啤酒酿坊会跟专门酿造苹果酒的友好作坊合酿，发挥各自所长造出混合型作品。

 

Natural Wine

The name says it all--while wine making is viewed as another domain which is unrelated to beer brewing--but there are quite a few beer breweries who do make their own wine--for examples Antidoot of Belgium who have their own small farms cultivating fruits suitable for wine as well cider making--those who have tasted their beer would know there are indeed blend of beer+wine.

自然葡萄酒（natural wine ）

虽然酿造啤酒同时也酿造自家葡萄酒的craft beer酿坊为数不多但还是有的，比如比利时天然发酵小酿坊Antidoot就是。拥有自己小型农场，这家主要酿造以蔬果草本入酒的作品，除了不同类型啤酒，也酿制少量苹果酒和自然葡萄酒，至今喝过好些作品中就包括混合葡萄酒的桶陈啤酒。

Mead

Mead are essentially fermented natural honey so NOT beer but somehow been very closely knitted with craft beer festivals where beer geeks do chase after some top tier mead makers bottles.

A mead is made with at least 50% natural honey--it can be a traditional mead- a sparkling mead- a fruited mead & so on--of course adjuncts such as fruits-food items-spices would come into play depending on what the brewers intended--as well barrel aging process--if anything--perhaps the closest link to beer is a Braggot( mix of beer & mead)--which perhaps can be considered a lighter- sessionable mead.

While some of the top mead makers from the States are concentrating only in making mead--there was this Gose from Sahtipaja of Sweden many years ago which left an impression--along with their top notch "meadme" series.

蜜酒（mead）

不是啤酒但和craft beer界走得很近，经常在重要的啤酒庆典活动中出现，啤迷中也有好些是蜜酒迷，可说是个人早期啤酒探索路程上最先接触到就印象深刻的非啤酒类型作品。

蜜酒的定义是酿造原料至少50%必须是高质天然蜂蜜，可以是传统式只有蜂蜜风味作品，也可以加入各种水果，食材或香料提味，当然也会有不同其他酒类旧桶陈放版本。

酿造啤酒同时也酿蜜酒的酿坊不多，虽说当今最被推崇的几家美国顶级蜜酒酿坊都是只专注蜜酒，不过早期个人喝过来自瑞典小酿坊Sahtipaja的高质蜜酒作品同时也对这家的德式风格酸啤作品印象犹新。